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Income inequality reaching intolerable levels: Thomas Piketty

French economist Thomas Piketty book on income disparity has once again raised concerns over widening gap between the rich and the poor.

In his blockbuster "Capital in the 21st Century," Piketty pointed out that the richest 1 per cent alone pocketed more than half (60 per cent) of the total increase of national income in the United States between 1977 and 2007.

Piketty wrote in the book, "From 1977 to 2007, the richest 10 percent appropriated three-quarters of the growth. The richest 1 percent alone absorbed nearly 60 percent of the total increase of U. S. national income in this period."

After analyzing two centuries of economic data, the French economic warned that the income disparity in Western society has reached intolerable levels.

He also criticized the government's economic policies, of both Republicans and Democrats, which helped the rich becoming richer and pushed the poor into deeper poverty. It is well-known fact that big business have been aggressively and highly funding lobbying groups, which helped then gain progressive taxation and supporting policies.

The Great Depression of 2009, which was set off by the crash of stock markets, was exacerbated not by too much money but by too little money in the system. The recession of 2008 had also forced government across the western world to pump money into the economy through measures like low interest rates and quantitative easing. Accumulation of most of the capital in a few hands could trigger a Great Depression-like situation again.